These empanadas taste like New Orleans: opening alert for Empanola

Jimena Urrutia is from Argentina. Empanadas, the savory, stuffed pastries, are a big deal there. Her husband, Marcelo García, is from Chile, which has its own empanada culture.

They decided to bring their shared love of empanadas to New Orleans with Empanola, a new stall at the St. Roch Market. A few of the empanadas, baked into shapes like knots and crescents, have traditional fillings, such as ham and cheese. But most show the couple's embrace of their new home, with flavors like gumbo, crawfish étouffée and a play on spinach and artichoke dip.

Although they're both Latino, their empanadas also capture a bit of New Orleans' French heritage. They worked with a French-born baker to create a dough flakier than what you would find in South America.

Opened: July 3, 2017

On the menu: Empanadas filled with gumbo, ratatouille, mushroom and cheese or shrimp and cheese ($5.50 each; 2 with a salad for $11.75); apple and blueberry danishes ($3) (See a PDF of the full menu)

Need to know: Empanola will soon offer as specials more empanadas with traditional fillings.

Hours: Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m; Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Empanola at St. Roch Market: 2381 St. Claude Ave., New Orleans, 504.609.3813

A Spanish-language version of this article was published on NOLA Mundo, to read click here: